DANUBE DELTA SETTLEMENTS

The isolated villages of the Danube Delta are facing severe depopulation, environmental degradation, and economic decline, threatening their cultural heritage and long-term viability. Limited infrastructure and diminishing opportunities further accelerate their decline. This thesis explores sustainable revitalization through an interdisciplinary approach, integrating architecture, ecology, and social research to develop adaptive strategies that restore cultural identity, enhance resilience, and ensure a sustainable future while respecting the region’s unique natural and cultural context.

This thesis proposes an interdisciplinary strategy for revitalizing Sulina, a historically significant yet declining settlement in the Danube Delta. Facing depopulation, deteriorating infrastructure, and a lack of essential services, the project introduces a hub-based intervention designed to reactivate the area by improving quality of life and providing new opportunities. Grounded in extensive research, nearly 200 local questionnaires and expert interviews inform the development of strategies meant to enhance resilience and sustainability. At the urban scale, the project envisions a network of strategically placed hubs to enhance infrastructure and economic opportunities while integrating sustainable resource management. At the architectural scale, the proposal introduces a central hub with three key pillars, namely: Mobility– strengthening transportation connections to overcome isolation and improve accessibility; Health– upcycling Sulina’s abandoned hospital into a facility for alternative medicine and urgent care, addressing the critical lack of medical services; Education– preserving and revitalizing local traditions through workshops on boat building, permaculture, and ecological fishing, ensuring the transmission of cultural identity while integrating modern thinking. At the social scale, the project fosters participatory planning, empowering local residents to shape their built environment while preserving heritage and traditions. More than a theoretical study, this research forms a replicable model for rural revitalization, bridging academia and practice. Future directions include continued collaboration with local stakeholders, policy advocacy, and implementation phases of one of the hubs, ensuring a lasting, scalable impact on similar vulnerable regions.